Did Denver Police Use Excessive Force Against George Floyd Protesters?

The City of Denver has already paid out more than $3 million in settlements to people injured by the police while protesting the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020. But now, a group of 12 protesters has taken their case to court, marking the first federal trial in the country to challenge police violence against those racial justice protests. The ACLU’s Colorado office is representing most of the plaintiffs, and senior staff attorney Sara Neel joins host Bree Davies to take us inside their case and talk about the implications for future criminal justice reform. 

Bree mentioned the Office of the Independent Monitor’s December 2020 report on the Denver Police Department’s response to the racial justice protests that summer. You can read the whole 94-page report documenting multiple examples of excessive force here: https://www.denvergov.org/content/dam/denvergov/Portals/374/documents/2020GFPReport_OIM.pdf

Plus, this episode includes another installment of Voice on the Street, our partnership with Denver’s street paper, The Denver VOICE. You can support the Voice by buying a copy from your local vendor, donate online or via Venmo. And if you want to get a little extra support to Albert Bland, our guest on this episode, make sure to include his name in a note with your Venmo transfer. 

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